Brad's Star Trek Toy Blog: Custom Figure - Lieutenant Commander Data Season One

When I compared the first few series of Next Generation figures in my collection to the Classic Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager series, there was clearly some evolution and changes in the approach to figure aesthetics. The early Next Generation figures showed Playmates Toys’ pedigree coming from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line with things like Riker’s ripped uniform, the exaggerated proportions of Worf, Gowron, and the Ferengi, and Data’s access panel play features. As toys marketed to kids, the play features are fun. But even when I was 11 and first started collecting the first wave of Next Generation figures they bothered me because I didn’t have those characters in “regular” uniforms.

The wave 2 Data figure in his first and second season uniform is a very slight retool of the wave 1 figure. The torso did eliminate the access panel on the back, but there is still an access panel on Data’s right wrist. But, unlike Picard, the uniform details are mostly right. The biggest problem for me in terms of uniform accuracy is the belt that carried over from the wave 1 figure since that was molded after Season 3 - 7 uniforms.

Data, LaForge, O’Brien, and any other engineering or security officer who uses the LaForge torso will probably have Data’s right shoulder and LaForge’s left shoulder because those create the best neutral arm postures. Both this Data and my Season 7 Data use the arms from the Data in Dress Uniform figure because they are a repaint of LaForge’s arms and therefore don’t have the access panel or the hands that only work with Data’s diagnostic device accessory. And, like most figures, Data has a waist and upper legs from the Voyager Tuvok / Paris / Doctor “buck”.

The lower legs on this figure come from the wave 1 LaForge figure with the division colored piping around the yoke. Since the LaForge legs mold has a wider stance the feet were angled outward, and so a dunk in boiling water followed by some pressure straightened them out to a more neutral pose to match the upper legs.